WONU Tackles Topic Of Self-Injury

August 6, 2007 at 8:40 AM (PT)

OLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY Christian CHR WONU (SHINE.FM 89.7)/CHICAGO afternoon-drive hosts TOWER and MALLORY recently addressed the topic of cutting and self-mutilation through a week of interviews with artists and experts on the topic.

“We didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to use pop radio to battle an epidemic,” says afternoon host SETH “TOWER” HURD. “We got a live call from a man who had just confronted his 17-year-old daughter for cutting. Once he told his story, we were immediately flooded with more calls. The two most shocking were from a 14-year-old who had started cutting when she was 12, and a 32-year-old who struggled with cutting after her daughter was born.”

Over the next week, the station continued to receive unsolicited calls and e-mails of support from listeners who had struggled with self-injury. The hosts spent the next two weeks booking interviews with artists who had written songs about the topic including PLUMB, SKILLET and SEVENTH DAY SLUMBER. Also featured during the week were DR. WENDY LADER from the CHICAGO-based SELFINJURY.COM and JAMIE TWORKOWSKI from the nonprofit TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS.